CVS's Failure to Protect Private Information
"We have more information on the consumer and their behavior than anybody else, and we share it with our over-the-counter suppliers. We share it with our pharmacy suppliers." -- CVS Caremark CEO Thomas Ryan
CVS customers trust the company with information about some of their most personal transactions. Consumers may expect that when they leave a CVS store with prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and other personal items, it is the end of the transaction. In fact, it is just the beginning. CVS retains data on your purchases in its computers and analyzes your medical history and buying patterns to design marketing pitches targeted specifically at you. It sells some of its purchase data to "health information companies" that in turn sell the information to drug manufacturers and others for marketing purposes. And CVS has a record of making private information vulnerable to identity theft that has prompted action by three Attorneys General as well as privacy watchdogs.
